According to reports, Red Bull is set to terminate its sponsorship agreement with the Honda MotoGP team at the end of the 2023 season and switch to Gresini for 2024 MotoGP.
Red Bull has decided to terminate its agreement with Honda and switch to Gresini, where Marc Marquez will be riding a satellite Ducati bike, according to Austrian publication Speedweek.
The news which might represent the first of its kind was highly anticipated, and Honda, which allowed Marc Marquez to prematurely end a contract that ran until the end of December 2024, shouldn’t be shocked.
Marquez declared last month his intention to leave Honda after ten years and six premier class titles for a seat on a satellite Ducati bike.
The Red Bull logo will no longer be displayed on the Repsol Honda RC213Vs despite a legally binding agreement that also extended until the conclusion of the eight-time World Champion’s theoretical contract.
Additionally, it is speculated that Spanish non-alcoholic brewery Estrella Galicia will also leave Honda. This comes after the sponsor had followed Marc to Repsol Honda and Alex Marquez to Gresini Ducati this year.
Now that the two brothers are back together, there would be no need to divide the budget between the two teams.
However, Honda will continue to be sponsored by Repsol through 2024, but it is currently unclear if Honda’s current uncompetitive streak combined with Marquez’s departure will lead the Spanish lubricant giant to end its thirty-year partnership with the manufacturer.
According to multiple rumors, Luca Marini has been picked to replace Marquez at Honda in 2024 and ride alongside 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir.
These rumors gained more traction on Monday after the Malaysian Grand Prix when Marini’s current team—his half-brother Valentino Rossi’s VR46 operation—shared a photo of Marini as a young kid sporting Repsol outfit. This could be interpreted as an indication that Marini’s switch to Honda is almost certain.
The favorite to replace Marini at the VR46 Ducati team alongside Marco Bezzecchi next season is current Moto2 form-man Fermin Aldeguer, who has won the last two intermediate class races with the Speed Up squad.
Meanwhile, Marc Marquez will be able to start work on the Gresini Ducati at the first test of the MotoGP off-season in Valencia on November 28.
